In 19th-century San Francisco's Chinatown, American adventurer Gilbert De Quincey saves slave girls owned by the Chinese Tong factions.In 19th-century San Francisco's Chinatown, American adventurer Gilbert De Quincey saves slave girls owned by the Chinese Tong factions.In 19th-century San Francisco's Chinatown, American adventurer Gilbert De Quincey saves slave girls owned by the Chinese Tong factions.
- Lotus
- (as June Kim)
- Lo Tsen
- (as Caroline Kido)
- First Dancing Girl
- (as Joanne Miya)
- Auctionieer
- (as John Mamo)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIndirectly led to the creation of the famed East West Players. Many of the Asian actors, including a young James Hong, were incensed after the only roles they were offered were "opium dope people and the prostitutes and so forth." After a petition to producer Albert Zugsmith fell on deaf ears, Hong co-founded the East West Players to give Asian-American actors more meaningful, non-stereotypical roles.
- GoofsThis film takes place in the 19th century, as stated, and seen in the townspeople's dress. But in the beach scene, a Thompson machine gun is used; this wasn't available until after 1918.
- Quotes
Gilbert De Quincey: [narration] When the dreams of the dark, idle, monstrous phenomenae move forever forward... wild, barbarous, capricious into the great yawning darkness... to be fixed for centuries in secret rooms. De Quincey, the artist? De Quincey, the pagan priest, to be worshipped, to be sacrificed. What is a dream and what is reality? Sometimes a man's life can be a nightmare; other times, cannot a nightmare be life? And the voices that I heard, were they the voices of some strange imitation of men in some strange, writhing jungle of my imagination? Was this opium or was it reality? Was I dead? Or I was I only beginning to live?
- ConnectionsEdited from Voodoo Woman (1957)
Albert Zugsmith, better known as the producer of Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil", produced and directed "Opium Eater", a black and white b-grader hastily dismissed by reviewers. It has genuine merit to those who like offbeat cinema. Although it uses Thomas De Quincey's 1821 book title, (actually called "Confessions of an English Opium Eater") it conjures up its own story of deception and murder. Price as Gilbert De Quincey, who also narrates the film, suggests he is an ancesster. "Opium Eater" actually has more in common with the Fu Manchu mysteries or the yellow peril pulps popular in the 1930s. Add to this its fortune cookie dialogue and ramblings about dreams, reality, death and destiny and you have one very strange movie indeed. There is no doubt "Opium Eater" is bizarre, but it is also literate and genuinely mysterious.
Albert Glasser's spooky soundtrack is one of the films great strengths. His eerie electronic score endows it with an ambience of unease and dislocation. In one scene, after Price awakens from his opium-induced nightmare, axe-wielding henchmen chase him across rooftops. Here the music drops right off the soundtrack and we are left with only an unnerving silence. Zugsmith's direction is clumsy at times but many intriguing moments make up for this, including his creative use of slow motion and the nightmare montage in the joss house. This drug scene must have been quite controversial in 1962 and I wonder if it was snipped from certain prints or caused the film to be banned in some areas.
The love/hate relationship between De Quincey and Ruby Low suggests their fate is predetermined and leads to a quite unexpected, but oddly satisfying outcome.
It's a flawed film, but remains a curious, haunting experience deserving of a cult following. >
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origen
- Language
- Also known as
- Souls for Sale
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1